Summary for zinc plating solution heating Discussion
Maximum safe watt density for zinc plating solution heating is the central question, but the provided thread excerpt does not include the actual discussion or any technical answers. The only visible content is the site header and the posting attribution to Ted Mooney, P.E. RET, so there is no source text here to summarize the heating limits, recommended watt density, or any cautions about zinc plating bath heaters. Because the answer content is missing, no practical guidance can be reliably extracted from this excerpt alone. If the full thread were available, the summary would need to reflect the specific watt-density recommendations, any temperature or immersion concerns, and whether Ted Mooney or other contributors gave differing advice.
adv.
Q. Good day
I would like to know what is the maximum safe watt density for heating elements used in alkaline zinc plating tanks.
The main worry I have is what effect the very high temperature at the surface of the heating element will have on the brightener and what limit the watt density is safe to be.
Thanks
Boris Siljanoski
– Perth, Western Australia
May 8, 2022
A. Hi Boris. Sorry, I can’t answer your question, and I hope someone else can.
But based on my experience as “the plating shop guy” for a firm which helped the major insurance carriers investigate fire insurance claims, I can warn you that electric heaters in polypropylene plating tanks are far-&-away the biggest cause of plating shop fires (an unmonitored solution level drop through evaporation, tank leak, or inadvertent pump-out allows the heater to radiate directly on the plastic and ignite it).
Even with careful double safeties, I don’t think you should increase the watt density beyond what is currently accepted practice.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
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May 2022